After the positive announcements regarding the lower-than-expected rate of recession for 2013 (3.5% instead of 4.2%), the Bank of Greece announced today a 1.2 billion euro surplus in the current account balance, for the first time since 1948 (when the Bank began documenting it).
This development marks a significant improvement from the 4.6 billion euro deficit that was documented in 2012. This surplus is attributed to the significant reduction of the trade deficit, from 27 billion euros in 2012 to 17 billion euros, as well as a spike in revenue from tourism and community transfers. The trade deficit was reduced by increasing revenue from exports and reducing import expenses.
The importance of this achievement is that in the past four years Greece managed to eliminate two of the main causes of the Greek financial crisis, namely the budget and current account deficits. This development is likely to further increase the support for the Greek economy and boost the recovery efforts.
The Bank of Greece’s full announcement is available here and its detailed divs are available here.
